OHS Site Walk and Observation Checklist

Why is the OHS site walk a manager's job?

Art. 4 of Law No. 6331 requires the employer not only to take measures, but also to monitor and check whether the measures taken are complied with and to ensure that non-conformities are eliminated. The same article states that obtaining the service from an OSGB (joint health and safety unit) does not remove the employer's responsibility. The OHS specialist walks the site within the statutory time and records findings in the approved logbook; but a visit of a few hours a month cannot on its own monitor a production area that changes every day. In this article we propose a checklist, an observation form and an action tracking arrangement for an OHS site inspection carried out by the manager.

A weekly safety site walk fills this gap. When the plant manager, production manager or maintenance manager goes onto the shop floor regularly, three things happen: workers see that management takes OHS seriously, minor non-conformities are caught before they become accidents, and it is monitored whether the measures written in the logbook by the specialist are actually being implemented. We explained how the specialist's findings and recommendations are recorded in our article on the approved logbook.

How do you plan a management site walk?

The gemba walk approach suits OHS too: go to where the work is done, observe, ask and listen. Reading reports at a desk is no substitute. Plan the walk with these rules:

Frequency and duration: Once a week, 30–45 minutes. Short, regular walks catch more than long, infrequent ones.
Route: Start from a different department each week; add rarely visited places such as the warehouse, maintenance workshop, compressor room and the back of the building to the route.
Shift: Carry out at least one walk a month on the night or weekend shift. A significant share of non-conformities appear at times when management is not present.
Team: A production manager and, if possible, the worker representative or an experienced operator from that department should join the walk. Walks that coincide with the specialist's visit day can be carried out jointly.
Preparation: Before going out, look at the open actions from the previous walk. Check these on the spot first.

The walk is a conversation, not an inspection. When you see an operator working with the guard open, first ask "why?". The answer is often a design problem such as "the part won't come out with the guard fitted", and the solution lies in the machine, not the worker.

OHS site inspection checklist: a metalworking example

The list below has been prepared for metalworking and machinery manufacturing workshops in Bursa; add or remove rows to suit your own workplace. You do not have to look at every row on every walk; apply it to the areas on that week's route.

Area	What to check	Typical non-conformity
Machine guards	Are fixed and interlocked guards in place and working?	Bypassed door sensor, removed belt cover
Emergency stop	Are buttons accessible, intact and unobstructed?	Crate placed in front of a button, broken mushroom head
Lockout-tagout	Is there a lock and tag on the machine under maintenance?	Only a "do not touch" piece of cardboard
PPE	Is the PPE required for the task worn and in good condition?	Gloves with holes, goggles on the forehead
Forklifts and pedestrians	Is the walkway clear and marked, and is forklift speed appropriate?	Pallet protruding into the walkway
Stacking and racking	Is the load limit on the rack label, are there damaged uprights?	Dented rack leg, overloading on top of the rack
Electricity	Are panel covers closed and the space in front of them clear?	Open panel, crushed extension cable on the floor
Escape routes	Can exit doors be opened and is the space in front of them clear?	Locked emergency exit, stacked material in front
Fire	Are extinguishers in place, sealed and visible?	Material in front of an extinguisher
Chemicals	Are containers labelled, and is there a drip tray and safety data sheet?	Solvent in an unlabelled plastic bottle
Welding and fumes	Is local exhaust ventilation working and close to the welding point?	Extraction hose far from the welding point
Lifting accessories	Are slings, chains and hooks labelled and in good condition?	Unlabelled sling, hook without a safety latch

Site observation form: what is recorded?

A walk that is not recorded is forgotten a week later. The site observation form should be short; a single page or a form on a phone is enough. For each observation, write down:

Date, time, area and who carried out the walk.
Observation: What was seen? Attach a photo if there is one. Use concrete wording such as "two pallets on the walkway in front of press 3", not comments such as "untidy".
Type: Is it an unsafe condition (machine, environment) or unsafe behaviour? Behind behaviour there is often a problem with conditions.
Severity: Life-threatening, high, medium, low. When a life-threatening situation is seen, the work is stopped before the walk ends and the specialist is informed the same day.
Immediate correction: For example, the pallet in front was removed, the cover was closed.
Positive observation: Record good practice too and tell the team concerned. A walk that only looks for shortcomings soon becomes a ritual workers avoid.

The form can be on paper or on a phone. What matters is that the same form is used on every walk and that observations accumulate in one place. When you look at the forms together after three months, you will see which area keeps producing findings, which item never causes problems and on which shift non-conformities are concentrated. This picture is the soundest basis for setting the walk route and training priorities for the next period.

Also record separately the "close call" incidents encountered on the walk and described by workers; this information is a valuable source for the near miss reporting system.

Linking findings to action tracking

The real output of the site walk is an action list. Every finding on the form that was not corrected on the spot goes onto the list as a row:

No	Finding	Measure	Owner	Deadline	Status	Evidence of closure
1	One sensor of the press 3 light curtain has been bypassed	Bypass removed, curtain tested, cause investigated	Maintenance manager	Same day	Closed	Test record
2	Extraction hose on the welding line is too short	Hose extended, articulated arm extraction considered	Production manager	2 weeks	Open	–
3	Two rack uprights in the warehouse are dented	Racks emptied, uprights replaced	Warehouse manager	1 week	Open	–

Four rules make the list useful:

Every row has a single owner. "Production" or "everyone" is not an owner; one person's name is written.
The deadline matches the severity. Life-threatening items are closed the same day; for others, the timescales written in the company's OHS policy are used.
Closure requires evidence. A row is not closed without a photo, test record or purchase document; it is verified on the spot at the next walk.
A recurring finding goes to the root cause. If the same finding comes up on three walks in a row, the problem lies not in the worker's attention but in the system. In that case, use one of the root cause analysis methods.

The action list is reviewed monthly with the specialist. A new hazard found on the walk, for example a newly installed machine or a changed production method, may require the risk assessment to be updated. Where there is an OHS committee, a summary of the walks and the open actions are discussed at the committee meeting.

Common mistakes in site walks

Leaving the walk to the specialist alone. If the manager is not seen on the shop floor, the perception that OHS is "the specialist's job" takes hold. We covered this in detail in our article on how to build an OHS culture.
Looking for someone to blame. When the walk turns into a punishment tour, workers hide non-conformities.
Collecting findings and not closing them. An action list that is not closed turns into evidence in an inspection that something "was identified but not remedied".
The same route every time. The machines in the front corridor always look tidy; the back warehouse is never seen.
Measuring only by numbers. "40 findings this month" is not an achievement; the action close-out rate and a fall in recurring findings are more meaningful. You can find which indicators to track in our article on OHS performance indicators.

Setting up the site walk form and action list for your company and accompanying the first walks is part of our OHS specialist service. For risk topics specific to metalworking, see our metal and machinery page, and to track periodic inspection and training dates, the OHS calendar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a management site walk a legal requirement?

There is no requirement in the legislation called a "weekly site walk". However, Art. 4 of Law No. 6331 gives the employer the obligation to monitor and check whether measures are complied with. Regular, recorded site walks are the most concrete evidence that you are fulfilling this obligation.

How often should a site walk be carried out?

In production workplaces, 30–45 minute walks once a week are a practical start. Schedule at least one walk a month on the night or weekend shift. In workplaces such as offices and shops, one walk a month is often enough.

Should the worker's name be written on the site observation form?

In observations of unsafe behaviour, the aim is to find the cause, not the person. That is why it is recommended to write the task and area on the form instead of a name. Situations requiring disciplinary action should be handled through a separate process and not mixed with site walk records.

What should we do if we see a life-threatening hazard on the walk?

The work is stopped before the walk ends, the area is made safe and the OHS specialist is informed the same day. Work does not continue until measures have been taken; the incident is entered on the action list with the highest severity.